There are many things Windows does poorly regardless of our settings or patience, and one of the most striking examples is file search. There is no doubt that something broke after Windows 8, and the excuse of "let the indexer run" doesn't hold water. The most effective way to fix this is to download an alternative search tool, and that's where SearchMyFiles from the tireless NirSoft comes in.
This isn't just about personal files; it also affects configuration options, as we saw when trying to change mouse pointers.
How to Search for Files and Folders in Windows with SearchMyFiles
Once again, NirSoft's magic comes to our rescue with SearchMyFiles, a small program focused on advanced file and folder search in Windows. When we say "advanced", it's no exaggeration.
SearchMyFiles lets you set a wide range of parameters, starting with folder and file type exclusions, search depth, size limits, text or binary content, special attributes, and creation, modification, and access dates.
It also supports symbolic links and offers the ability to set an upper limit on the number of results, which is configured by default to 10,000 files.
Needless to say, SearchMyFiles' speed compared to Windows' search is impressive. I admit I have an advantage because all drives on my test machine are SSDs, but it's clear that there is much less overhead in its search technique.
As always with NirSoft software, SearchMyFiles is portable, has no external dependencies, and is available in 32 and 64-bit. If you want to add more software from this developer to your computer, feel free to explore options like UninstallView for uninstalling programs without surprises, or SoundVolumeView which controls all sound on your PC.
